Watch him on the sideline during a tense moment. Conferring with an assistant, he looks like he’s deciding where to dock the boat for lunch instead of what to call on third and 7.

How cool is Kale Ane? 

A simple, brief raise of the left arm, a little double tap on the back of Manti Te’o when the clock finally hit 0:00 on Punahou’s first state football championship. 

“Believe me, I’m excited inside,” the Buffanblu coach said. 

Competitively it was a dud, a 38-7 wipeout of Leilehua. Except for Punahou’s big plays (518 yards worth), an artistic mess, too. 

A combined 11 turnovers and 261 penalty yards. 

But it didn’t matter. The game didn’t live up to the hype, but Punahou and its collection of stars did, especially Te’o. 

Plenty of general emotional sentiment was on Leilehua’s side — the Mules were a team in the strange position of underdog as defending champion. 

But it was hard not to have a soft spot for the Buffanblu, too. 

After all, the school that wins everything else from water polo to presidential elections had never taken a Prep Bowl or state football championship. 

And this was Punahou’s first shot at the crown since the death last year of Charley Ane, Kale’s father. 

Charley was a Buffanblu great and NFL player, like his son, and coached alongside him in Makiki in his later years. 

“They had an outstanding relationship,” athletic director Tom Holden said. 

“Not just coaching. I think they did everything together.” 

And Holden gets to fill the one major puka in the Punahou trophy case before he retires next spring. 

We’ll see better Hawaii high school football teams in our lifetimes — actually, probably already have. 

Some of those Kamehameha and Waianae powerhouses in the 1970s, Saint Louis in the ’80s and ’90s and then Kahuku more recently. 

Those older than I will tell you about others. 

But we may never see a better player than Manti Te’o. 

It sounded like the entire stadium counted aloud as we watched the replay. 

One ... two, three ... four ... five ... six. 

Six tackles. 

Te’o broke them all on one play — the same number he’d made as a linebacker in the first half. 

A normal high school football player would’ve been stopped for a 5-yard loss. 

Te’o turned it into the most exciting 4-yard gain you’ll ever see, as his freakish strength and quickness ruled the play and eventually, the day. 

It was Te’o, time and again, even more dangerous after a rare mistake. 

Te’o roughs Andrew Manley, then comes right back with a jarring tackle at the line of scrimmage. 

Te’o fumbles, then crushes Manley from the blindside in the ribs. 

That’s when Dick Butkus, sitting in the VIP box at Aloha Stadium, knew he’d given the award named after him to the right kid.